Isaiah 60: A Light in the Long Twilight
An Evensong Homily
Did your parents ever tell you in the mornings to ‘rise and shine’, rather than wake up, my little darling, and get on with your life??
Not so much nowadays perhaps, but certainly when I was a child, it was common.
But did you know that term has origins in Isaiah 60?
The prophet Isaiah wrote these words thousands of years ago;
‘Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.’
This evening, we gather as the day’s light is beginning to fade.
Autumn is fast arriving, and leaves have begun to fall.
The evenings are drawing in, and so the rhythm of life shifts once more.
Children have returned to school, some with sharpened pencils and nervous excitement, others with quiet dread.
University students are packing bags and boarding trains, stepping into new chapters of their lives.
And for many of us older ones, September feels like a second January—a time of beginnings, of recalibration, of renewed commitments.
And yet, even as life continues with its familiar patterns, the world today feels anything but settled, because;
We hear News Reports that Jar on the Soul;
We hear of wars and threats of war, some erupting in places we hardly knew existed.
Politics, both local and international, seems to become more bizarre by the day.
Then on top of this, we have global warming to contend with.
And as the resulting suffering and uncertainty generated by these issues daily fill our screens; they also infiltrate our minds.
Which in turn can cause uncomfortable feelings.
Is it anxiety? Darkness? Dread?
What’s next? How will I cope? What does the future hold?
It is into this setting that Isaiah speaks.
He doesn’t offer platitudes or try to dismiss our concerns.
He simply says: ‘Arise – Shine.’
Rise and Shine : Live in Hope : Is the Message;
Because Isaiah tells us; ‘our light has come and the glory of the lord has risen upon us’.
This is not a light of our own making, but a light that shines upon us as a gift, not an achievement.
At the time, Isaiah was speaking directly to a people returning from exile,
rebuilding what was broken, relearning what it means to belong.
And his words still speak to us today;
To the young family struggling to make ends meet;
to the sick and elderly waiting for extra medical care;
to the teenager wondering if the world is safe enough to make dreams come true in;
and to you and to me, and whatever lies heavy on our hearts today.
‘Lift up your eyes,’ Isaiah says. ‘Look around’.
Not to escape reality, but to see it reframed by hope.
The City of Everlasting Light;
Isaiah had a vision of a city where gates never close, where dignity is restored, where people are drawn together by the light.
A place where violence and destruction will be no more, and the Lord will be the people’s everlasting light, outshining the sun and moon.
But this is not just ancient prophecy of how God’s Kingdom, heaven, will be.
It is an important lesson for people today;
Because Isaiah’s voice still echo’s down the ages, telling us;
To arise is to say no to despair – even in the darkest moments.
To shine is to live generously – even when it costs us something precious.
To believe is to live in hope of all God’s glory – even when others deny him,
So as we sit here this evening, in this sacred stillness, let us ask;
Where did God’s light shine in our lives today?
Was it in a neighbour’s unexpected kindness?
In a quiet act of forgiveness?
Or for gardeners and farmers, it might be the long-awaited gift of abundant rain!
Let’s also look forward to the dawn of a new day tomorrow.
With hope in the light that still shines brightly in a troubled world.
Even on the darkest day, and in the most tragic of circumstances.
Because the light that the prophet Isaiah spoke of all those years ago;
is the light of Christ.
And he offered to all who would rise and shine, the blessed gift of hope, when he said;
‘I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.’ (John 8:12)
